Road trip uncovers voter outrage that could 'blow up' Trump and the GOP

Trump supporters and protesters gather outside a campaign rally (and accompanying anti-Trump protest) for President Trump and US Senate candidate Martha McSally. (Eric Rosenwald / Shutterstock.com)

Seeking an up-close glimpse of the outrage brewing among voters, NBC News conducted an extensive road trip across several states to find the issues impacting major races, finding that President Donald Trump and the GOP now face "an atmosphere that typically blows up on the party in power."

NBC published the findings of the trip, conducted in August, in a major special report published on Tuesday. Going from New Jersey to Nebraska along I-80, the venture passed "through the Rust Belt and into America’s breadbasket," and roughly a third of the more competitive House races in the coming midterms, and "two key Senate races."

"Americans are frustrated with the direction the country is headed as the midterm elections approach," the report began, later adding, "They’re angry about rising prices, ballooning interest rates and foreign wars. They are afraid that AI will automate many jobs while driving up utility prices... Many voters in each region say they have lost faith in federal elected officials to solve major problems."

"You take every politician in Washington, you put them all in a bag and start hitting the bag with a baseball bat — you hit the right person,” Rich Seitz, the leader of a New Jersey motorcycle club, told NBC.

Starting in New Jersey's 7th District, the outlet found GOP Rep. Tom Kean facing a dicey reelection path for the typical reasons, as well as his controversial recent absence from Congress due to mental health issues, which he kept his constituents in the dark about for weeks. One Democratic voter, 29-year-old social worker Gloria Mendez, said that Trump's deportation agenda has led to a surge in opposition from the district's Latino community, which makes up 15 percent of the population. She also suggested Kean focus on his own struggles rather than another term in the House.

Moving into the 7th and 8th Districts in Pennsylvania, NBC spoke with Louis Marcelino, a three-time Trump voter from Hazleton, who chastised the president as out of touch with everyday issues.

“Everything has just gotten more expensive,” Marcelino, 38, said. “I don’t think he realizes it, but every single American here is paying the price for that war."

"It’s hard to imagine a scenario in which Democrats take control of the House without flipping at least one competitive district in the Keystone State," NBC detailed. "Republicans think they will likely have to juice MAGA turnout to help incumbents such as Rep. Rob Bresnahan in the 8th District and Rep. Ryan Mackenzie in the 7th District, which is centered in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley. That has been some of the most competitive political turf in the country in the Trump era."

In Ohio's 7th District, Rep. Max Miller is also facing issues above and beyond the generally tough political atmosphere, as he opted to continue his reelection bid after his wife made major domestic abuse allegations against him, including alleged violence against his two-year-old daughter. Katie Heinz, a 49-year-old interior designer from the GOP-heavy Cleveland neighborhood of Medina, said that Miller's issues made it impossible to support him, though she added that she was unsure that she would vote Democrat instead.

"What he’s got going on in his personal world, unfortunately, is going to roll over into his day to day, and we need to get things done," she told NBC.

"In addition to basic inflation and concern about the Iran war, Iowa farmers are contending with Trump trade policies that have roiled global commodity markets and made farming more expensive," the report continued, making its way to the state's 1st and 3rd Districts. "That has helped put an open Senate seat in play — where Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson is squaring off against Democratic state Rep. Josh Turek — along with two Republican-held House seats. If there’s a big enough Democratic wave, a third House seat could flip."

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